Local police departments in New Hampshire played a significant role in the surge in immigration enforcement in the state this summer, according to federal data obtained through public records requests by the Deportation Data Project.
NHPR analyzed this data to look at where arrests happened, the demographics of those arrested, how many people arrested had criminal convictions, and how many arrests resulted in deportations.
New Hampshire is the only state in New England where local law enforcement has signed agreements with ICE. We wanted to understand how these agreements have been working as the federal government continues its immigration crackdown. This data also gives us a more detailed picture of who ICE is arresting in the state.
Arrests by local law enforcement in the state accounted for nearly half of the 198 people detained between May and July 2026. Overall, more than 700 people have been detained in the state since the start of the second Trump administration.
These arrests are carried out by local police agencies that have an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as 287(g) programs. These agreements allow a local police department to deputize its officers to carry out immigration actions, like serving warrants and detaining people suspected of being in the country without authorization.
Since September 2025, local law enforcement agencies in New Hampshire have arrested 172 people through a 287(g) program, outpacing arrests made by ICE and transfers from correctional facilities — many as part of ICE’s Criminal Alien Program.
Most arrests are concentrated in the southern half of the state, especially through the ICE office in downtown Manchester. The other arrests tend to group in places where there are county jails or police agencies with 287(g) agreements — including Hillsborough and Rockingham counties, which both have a 287(g) agreement through their sheriff’s offices.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte, county sheriffs, and some police chiefs have spoken in favor of these partnerships, saying that the programs are in place to apprehend dangerous criminals. The program also has support among State House Republicans, and Ayotte signed two laws last year that do not allow municipalities to prohibit their police departments from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
Over the past year, ICE has arrested people from 48 different countries, largely from Latin America.
Citizens of Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico and Honduras made up two-thirds of the arrests. Amid allegations of racial profiling, there is a clear demographic profile of arrests in New Hampshire: Latino men in their 20s and 30s made up 58% of those arrested in the second Trump administration. Seven minors were also arrested and detained in New Hampshire, including a 4-year old from Ecuador arrested in Manchester in July.
The Trump administration has been pushing voluntary departures nationwide, including 119 people arrested in New Hampshire. On average, people spend 49 days in detention before they leave the country or are released.
The number of arrests in June 2026 rose with a national immigration push and nearly reached the record set in January 2023 during the Biden administration. However, about a third of those arrested by ICE during the Trump administration had a criminal conviction, compared to two-thirds arrested during a comparable period at the end of the Biden administration.
